I. Ferenc Farkas Conference: On the Shoulder of a Giant

Ferenc Farkas (1949-2016) was an outstanding professor and researcher of Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pécs. He was the dean of the faculty and the vice-rector of the University of Pécs, whose national and international scientific research activities, publications and lectures were connected to several areas of management. This conference is dedicated to the intellectual heritage of the professor.

József Bódis rector welcomed the audience: “this is a wonderful occasion to pay tribute to the memory of the professor.” Zoltán Schepp, dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics said that Ferenc Farkas played a very important role in the life of the faculty. He spent his whole life accumulating mental capital and improving the high standards at the faculty, in which he attached great importance to internationalization. Therefore, the Faculty of Business and Economics was one of the firsts to launch a doctoral school in English, and following the legacy of the professor, the English language programmes continue to play an important role at the faculty to this day.

The Hungarian patron of the conference, Iván Bélyácz, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences summarized the legacy of professor Farkas in a very touching way: “At today’s conference we will hear the living ideas of Ferenc Farkas, and the interpretations and analyses that evoke his past personality, his human character, and his professional work to be treasured for the present and the future.” Ákos Jarjabka, the head of the Department of Leadership and Management informed the participants that in order to encourage students to follow the spirit of the professor, the Ferenc Farkas Scholarship was established in 2017. Geert Hofstede, patron of the I. Ferenc Farkas International Scientific Conference, honorary doctor of the University of Pécs, professor emeritus of Maastricht University greeted the audience in a live video and wished inspiring lectures and discussions to the participants of the conference.

Gyula Bakacsi, president of the Committee on Business Administration, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and professor of the Budapest Business School (BBS) said: “we are standing in the shoulders of giants, and Ferenc Farkas was one of them. I am convinced that his name is the best brand for this conference.” In his plenary speech, he discussed charismatic and neo-charismatic leadership models and compared them in terms of social development, maturity and prosperity. Balázs Heidrich, the rector of BBS introduced the subcultures of higher education institutions, with some music references (the title of his speech: The Landscape is Changing is the title of a song by Depeche Mode), focusing on the period 2011-18. Paulo Feldmann of Hungarian descent, assistant professor of the University of São Paulo, Brazil emphasized the importance of geopolitics in internationalization: „each country is different, it is mandatory to understand that cultural, economic and historical factors are of great influence.” After the plenary session, the best paper awards have been announced and the participants continued their scientific discussion in parallel sections.

You can find further information (the discussed studies, pictures and video material about the conference) on the conference website »

The original article in Hungarian »

Mariann TÓTH